“Hut ab,” “Promenade with Kamerade for Schokolade,” and the Flying Dutchman: British Soldiers in the Rhineland, 1918-1929

This essay explores the social history of the “British Army of the Rhine,” especially their interactions with the German population, over the eleven-year period of occupation in Cologne and part of the Rhineland. It covers the initial, sometimes fraught establishment of the occupation and interactions with the civil population, especially the perennial problem of British soldiers' relations with German women. These were initially prohibited altogether, but the rule was quickly relaxed, and the British authorities even accepted and regulated the use of brothels, leading to criticisms back home. The essay also discusses the comparatively small number of serious violent crimes (including four murders) during the occupation, and concludes that the occupation was characterized on both sides by grudging acceptance and some degree of forbearance.     

Repeatability and reproducibility of comparison decisions by firearms examiners

In a comprehensive study to assess various aspects of the performance of qualified forensic firearms examiners, volunteer examiners compared both bullets and cartridge cases fired from three different types of firearms. They rendered opinions on each comparison according to the Association of Firearm & Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) Range of Conclusions, as Identification, Inconclusive (A, B, or C), Elimination, or Unsuitable. In this part of the study, comparison sets used previously to characterize the overall accuracy of examiners were blindly resubmitted to examiners to assess the repeatability (105 examiners; 5700 comparisons of bullets and cartridge cases) and reproducibility (191 examiners of bullets, 193 of cartridge cases; 5790 comparisons) of firearms examinations. Data gathered using the prevailing AFTE Range were also recategorized into two hypothetical scoring systems. Consistently positive differences between observed agreement and expected agreement indicate that the repeatability and reproducibility of examiners exceed chance agreement. When averaged over bullets and cartridge cases, the repeatability of comparison decisions (involving all five levels of the AFTE Range) was 78.3% for known matches and 64.5% for known nonmatches. Similarly averaged reproducibility was 67.3%% for known matches and 36.5% for known nonmatches. For both repeatability and reproducibility, many of the observed disagreements were between a definitive and inconclusive category. Examiner decisions are reliable and trustworthy in the sense that identifications are unlikely when examiners are comparing non-matching items, and eliminations are unlikely when they are comparing matching items.     

The Rise of the Resilient Local Authority?

The term resilience is increasingly being utilised within the study of public policy to depict how individuals, communities and organisations can adapt, cope, and ‘bounce back’ when faced with external shocks such as climate change, economic recession and cuts in public expenditure. In focussing on the local dimensions of the resilience debate, this article argues that the term can provide useful insights into how the challenges facing local authorities in the UK can be reformulated and reinterpreted. The article also distinguishes between resilience as ‘recovery’ and resilience as ‘transformation’, with the latter's focus on ‘bouncing forward’ from external shocks seen as offering a more radical framework within which the opportunities for local innovation and creativity can be assessed and explained. While also acknowledging some of the weaknesses of the resilience debate, the dangers of conceptual ‘stretching’, and the extent of local vulnerabilities, the article highlights a range of examples where local authorities – and crucially, local communities – have enhanced their adaptive capacity, within existing powers and responsibilities. From this viewpoint, some of the barriers to the development of resilient local government are not insurmountable, and can be overcome by ‘digging deep’ to draw upon existing resources and capabilities, promoting a strategic approach to risk, exhibiting greater ambition and imagination, and creating space for local communities to develop their own resilience.     

Values in Economic Decisions and Policymaking

The authors argue that values influence decisions taken by policymakers and that decision and policymakers can follow one or the other of the two distinct paths — altruism and egoism. However, the main purpose of this article is to investigate outcomes of government and corporation policies formulated in accordance with theories espoused in economic rationalism or neoclassical economics. These show that they generally follow the path of egoism. The occasional result is that although multinational enterprises and other corporations contribute to the relief of natural and economic problems, they may in fact be contributing simply out of corporate self-interest. The recent collapse of financial markets in the United States and throughout the globe is identified as a result of business activities designed to seek higher corporate profits and higher executive payouts, which are motivated by self-serving values linked to the ideologies of neoclassical economics or economic rationalism. The article argues for a just and fair redistribution of incomes, possibly best achieved through the taxation system and opens the way for further research on the alternative path—the path of altruism.     

Book Reviews

Linda S. Frey and Marsha L. Frey, The History of Diplomatic Immunity (Ohio State University Press: Columbus, Ohio, 1999), 727 pp. ISBN 0–8142–0740–5.

Winfried Baumgart, The Crimean War 1853–1856 (London: Edward Arnold, 1999). 244pp. £16.99 pb; £45 hb.

Bill Nasson, The South African War 1899–1902 (London: Arnold, 1999). xvi + 304 pp., maps. £45 hb ISBN 0–340–741546; £16.99 pb ISBN 0–340–614277.

Yigal Sheffy, British Military Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign 1914–1918 (London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1998). xviii + 380 pp. ISBN 0–7146–4677.

Carolyn J. Kitching, Britain and the Problem of International Disarmament 1919–1934 (London and New York: Routledge, 1999). viii + 223 pp. £50.

Ray Moseley, Mussolini's Shadow. The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999). 302 pp. £19.95 hb ISBN 0–300–07917–6.

Peter Neville, Appeasing Hitler: The Diplomacy of Sir Nevile Henderson, 1937–39 (Houndmills and London: Macmillan Press Ltd and New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 2000). xv + 237 pp. £45 hb ISBN 0–333–73987–6.

Penderel Moon (ed.), Wavell: The Viceroy's Journal (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1997). xvi + 528 pp.; illus. No price given, hb ISBN 0–19–577128–1.

Gerald Stourzh, Um Einheit und Freiheit. Staatsvertrag, Neutralität und das Ende der Ost‐West‐Besetzung Österreichs 1945–1955 (Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 1998), 831 pp.

Sue Onslow, Backbench Debate within the Conservative Party and Its Influence on British Foreign Policy, 1948–57 (London: Macmillan, 1997). xiii + 334 pp. ISBN 0–333–65637–7.